Manatees – Red Tide

Manatees – Red Tide
Ambience: manatee vocalizations, underwater

We’re listening to the underwater vocalizations of manatees, an endangered marine mammal found on the coast of Florida, the Caribbean and South America. Their population has slowly been rising over last decade, but now they’re facing a new threat to their survival. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Rose: Manatees have faced recent large unusual mortality events, with 829 dying – which is more than twice of what you’d expect in any given year. A big fraction of those were from red tide.

Pat Rose is an aquatic biologist and the executive director of the Save the Manatee Club

Rose: Red Tide is created by literally billions of microorganisms that when they get together in these large masses and bloom, they secrete a neurotoxin. Manatees can inhale that in an aerosol or they can digest some of that toxin within the plant material that they’re feeding on. It literally effects them so that they drown; they’re not able to maintain their neurological function.

Rose: Red Tide has been around for as long as man has known in terms of history. Of late, we’re thinking that it’s actually becoming more prevalent, virulent and lasting longer, because of some additions of some pollutants that we’re putting into our waters.
By keeping close lookout for manatees during red tide events, we’re actually been able to rescue many manatees – up to 15 of them recently and bring them in to facilities. If they’re able to be kept from drowning, and kept fluids in them, they’ll come back actually rather quickly. Within a couple of weeks they can be brought back to the wild – reintroduced and they’re going to be well.

Our thanks to the USGS’s Sirenia Project for the manatee recordings. Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by the National Science Foundation and Virginia Tech, inventing the future through a hands-on approach to education and research.

Manatees - Red Tide

Their population has slowly been rising over last decade, but now they're facing a new threat to their survival.
Air Date:04/20/2022
Scientist:
Transcript:

Manatees - Red Tide Ambience: manatee vocalizations, underwater We're listening to the underwater vocalizations of manatees, an endangered marine mammal found on the coast of Florida, the Caribbean and South America. Their population has slowly been rising over last decade, but now they're facing a new threat to their survival. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Rose: Manatees have faced recent large unusual mortality events, with 829 dying - which is more than twice of what you'd expect in any given year. A big fraction of those were from red tide. Pat Rose is an aquatic biologist and the executive director of the Save the Manatee Club Rose: Red Tide is created by literally billions of microorganisms that when they get together in these large masses and bloom, they secrete a neurotoxin. Manatees can inhale that in an aerosol or they can digest some of that toxin within the plant material that they're feeding on. It literally effects them so that they drown; they're not able to maintain their neurological function. Rose: Red Tide has been around for as long as man has known in terms of history. Of late, we're thinking that it's actually becoming more prevalent, virulent and lasting longer, because of some additions of some pollutants that we're putting into our waters. By keeping close lookout for manatees during red tide events, we're actually been able to rescue many manatees - up to 15 of them recently and bring them in to facilities. If they're able to be kept from drowning, and kept fluids in them, they'll come back actually rather quickly. Within a couple of weeks they can be brought back to the wild - reintroduced and they're going to be well. Our thanks to the USGS's Sirenia Project for the manatee recordings. Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by the National Science Foundation and Virginia Tech, inventing the future through a hands-on approach to education and research.